Academic Publication

Author Profile

Sanghmitra S. Acharya is an Associate Professor at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. She has also been at the Ball State University, Muncie, INDIANA, USA as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology during 200809. She was also awarded Asian Scholarship Foundation Fellowship during 2005. She was a Visiting Fellow at University of The Philippines Population Institute (UPPI), Manila, and studied health issues among the Filipino youth. She was a UNFPA Fellow for Global Training Programme on Population and Sustainable Development during 199596 at the University of Botswana, Gabarone (Southern Africa). She has also travelled to China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Germany. Her research interests include reproductive morbidity, gender, youth; urban health; and discrimination and social exclusion in health. She teaches courses on research methodology; population, health and development; urbanization and public health; and modules on demographic aspects of ethnicity and caste; social stratification; geographic mobility and migration; and social disparities in health.

About The Book

The present book captures 'youth', a unique phase of life which has been extensively examined as a demographic, social and biological construct. It is refered to as an age group which links childhood with adulthood. Young people differ spatio temporally in terms of sociocultural, political and economic structures of the countries. Youth is also the life span when sexuality is discovered, exposing them to the risk of pregnancy, child bearing and infection of sexually transmitted diseases. Youth is a stage in the life cycle which is significant from the perspective of individual and also national development. It establishes a continuum between the past, present and the future generation. Health of the youth and development are intricately linked. A large share of labourforce is comprised of youth. Critical life course events such as completion of education, entry into job, marriage, sexual experience, parenthood, occur during this phase. Youth are marrying later and becoming sexually active before marriage. Till about early 1990s critical issues in health and development did not include youth. Thus the policies often focus on the negative than the positive side of their contribution to economy, education and the very process of social change. It is a positive indicator that youth today are not seen as a problem group but as a potential resource for the country's development. Given this background, the present book endeavours to examine the role of interaction between adults and youth on health and sexuality for transition into responsible adulthood. It also examines some relevant public policies and their scope to address the issue of the youth. This is examined through macro data and the micro study in India. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection are used. Major findings suggest that youth do not have adequate and correct information about health and sexuality, thus interaction with adults is important because youth are a critical component of societal change. They are the link between the new and the old. They generate the innovation within society socially, politically and technologically. Most research on youth has been by the older academics. Thus has been more impressionistic, laying ideals and discipline for youth than understanding the issues that they confront. It is worthwhile to encourage the youth to look into and document the issues which confront them and speak for themselves.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement Foreword List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviation Chapter 1. Youth in Development Discourse Examining Some Public Policies and Programmes Chapter 2. Policy Environment and Programmes for the Youth Chapter 3. The Young and Their WorldIdeas and Concerns Chapter 4. Exploring Health and Sexuality Among Youth in Uttarakhand, India Chapter 5. Issues Concerning Health and Sexuality among Youth in Uttarakhand Voices from the field Chapter 6. Exploring Health and Sexuality Among Youth in The Philippines Chapter 7. Issues Concerning Health and Sexuality Among Youth in CLR, The PhilippinesVoices from the field Chapter 8. Transition to Responsible AdulthoodSome Findings and Implications from India and The Philippines Chapter 9. Goals, Strategies and Policy FrameworkChallenges to the Health and Sexuality of the youth References